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GAO Asks OMB to Facilitate Inter-Govt Coordination on Real Property Data
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GAO Asks OMB to Facilitate Inter-Govt Coordination on Real Property Data


EmptyOfficeFEMAThe Government Accountability Office has urged the Office of Management and Budget to support coordination between federal entities with independent leasing authorities to add information on the government’s portfolio of real property.

GAO said in a report published Wednesday federal entities that do not participate in the OMB-chaired Federal Real Property Council are not required to submit real property data to the General Services Administration‘s Federal Real Property Profile — an inventory of federal facilities.

The government watchdog said having partial information undermines FRPP’s oversight capacity for independent leases.

GAO surveyed 103 federal entities and 52 of them claimed to have independent leasing authority over 944 domestic offices and 164 warehouses as of October 2015.

Twenty-five of the 52 federal tenants with the authority are non-FRPC members and do not submit real property data to FRPP on 243 offices and warehouses that cost approximately $303.4 million in annual rent, GAO noted.

Auditors also found the average of all evaluated leases more than doubled GSA’s recommended 150 rentable square feet per employee for office space.

GAO recommended greater coordination and real-property management practices at FRPC in order to help federal entities meet space utilization targets.

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FDA Drafts Genomic Test Guidelines to Support White House’s Precision Medicine Initiative
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FDA Drafts Genomic Test Guidelines to Support White House’s Precision Medicine Initiative


HealthThe Food and Drug Administration has released two draft guidance documents that seek to provide a streamlined oversight process for genomic tests as part of the Precision Medicine Initiative established by the Obama Administration.

FDA proposed a new regulatory system meant to help manufacturers accelerate the development of genetic screening devices, the White House said Wednesday.

The draft guides outline standards for next generation sequencing-based in vitro methods to diagnose germline diseases as well as the use of genetic databases to support clinical evaluation of NGS-based in vitro diagnostics.

The agency crafted the policies in an effort to help developers market genomic tests based on community standards and scientific evidence, according to the White House.

There will be a 90-day comment period on the guides.

PMI aims to foster biomedical discoveries to provide tailored prevention and treatment strategies for a patient’s unique characteristics.

NASA: 3 Astronauts Begin Voyage to ISS Onboard Soyuz MS-01 Spacecraft
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NASA: 3 Astronauts Begin Voyage to ISS Onboard Soyuz MS-01 Spacecraft


spaceAn updated Soyuz spacecraft launched Wednesday at the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan to ferry three crew members to the International Space Station.

Kate Rubins of NASA, Soyuz Commander Anatoly Ivanishin of Russia’s space agency and Takuya Onishi of the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency began their voyage 9:36 p.m. Eastern Time Wednesday and will test modified systems before the spacecraft docks to ISS’ Rassvet module, NASA said Thursday.

The crew members will join the Expedition 48 team to conduct at least 250 science studies related to biology, Earth science, human research, physical sciences and technology development.

Expedition 48 crew members will work to install ISS’ first international docking adapter to accommodate future U.S. commercial crew spacecraft.

NASA is scheduled to launch SpaceX‘s cargo resupply spacecraft CRS-9 this month to deliver test systems meant to sequence DNA in space, regulate temperatures aboard spacecraft, study bone loss and monitor ships worldwide to the orbiting laboratory.

Orbital ATK’s sixth commercial resupply mission and two Russian Progress resupply missions that will carry food, fuel, supplies and research projects are also set for delivery to Expedition 48.

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UC Berkeley, Livermore Lab Use NASA Supercomputer, Code to Simulate Star Formation
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UC Berkeley, Livermore Lab Use NASA Supercomputer, Code to Simulate Star Formation


deep_spaceScientists at Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and University of California, Berkeley, have simulated the formation of individual and clusters of stars through the use of a NASA supercomputer.

The group of scientists used a UC Berkeley-built code to create and run a three-dimensional simulation of stellar formation on NASA’s Pleiades supercomputer, NASA said Wednesday.

The Pleiades supercomputer is based at the space agency’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley and works to generate results that are comparable with observation data collected by the Hubble Space Telescope.

Scientists plan to use UC Berkeley’s code to simulate the development of stellar disks or pancake-shaped accumulation of dust and gas around the protostars, which are associated with planet formation.

NIH Kicks Off Precision Medicine Research Initiative; Francis Collins Comments
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NIH Kicks Off Precision Medicine Research Initiative; Francis Collins Comments


medical health doctorThe National Institutes of Health has awarded $55 million in funds for a collaborative  research effort that aims to help individuals prevent and cure disease through precision medicine.

NIH said Wednesday the cohort program under President Barack Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative will engage a million volunteers in the U.S. to submit their health, environment and lifestyle data.

The participants will also contribute ideas to the study design and implementation and have access to various individual and collective study findings.

The awards are intended to establish a data and research support center, participant technologies center and a healthcare provider network in coordination with various organizations.

“This range of information at the scale of 1 million people from all walks of life will be an unprecedented resource for researchers working to understand all of the factors that influence health and disease,” said Francis Collins, NIH director.

Rochester, Minnesota-based Mayo Clinic received an award in May to build the PMI Cohort Program biobank, which will work to collect, analyze and store biological samples and the laboratory data will be combined with the lifestyle and health information submitted by volunteers.

NASA Airborne Study Aims to Monitor Greenhouse Gas Sources; Michael Freilich Comments
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NASA Airborne Study Aims to Monitor Greenhouse Gas Sources; Michael Freilich Comments


ACT-AmericaNASA has started an aerial study to determine the concentrations of greenhouse gases in Earth’s atmosphere as part of an effort to monitor their origins.

The Atmospheric Carbon and Transport–America experiment will use C-130H and King Air B-200 aircraft that carry instruments designed to measure the concentrations of carbon dioxide and methane, NASA said Thursday.

ACT-America aims to find the sources and destinations of greenhouse gases with the use of data analysis systems that examine regional data observations of greenhouse gas concentrations and the meteorological conditions.

Scientists will work using the data to interpret long-term greenhouse gas observations in order to determine how weather systems move the gases.

Michael Freilich, director of NASA’s Earth science division at NASA, said the ACT-America campaign is intended to further “the global effort to understand the sources and sinks of greenhouse gases.”

ACT-America flights will be based out of locations such as NASA’s Langley Research Center and Wallops Flight Facility in Virginia with additional flights scheduled in the summer from Lincoln, Nebraska and Shreveport, Louisiana.

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Christopher Weggeman Assumes Command of 24th Air Force – Air Forces Cyber
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Christopher Weggeman Assumes Command of 24th Air Force – Air Forces Cyber


Christopher Weggeman ImageMaj. Gen. Christopher Weggeman has succeeded Maj. Gen. Burke Wilson and assumed command of the 24th Air Force – Air Forces Cyber.

Weggeman is the fourth commander of the component numbered Air Force, the U.S. Air Force said June 20.

He previously served as director of the U.S. Cyber Command‘s plans and policy and was principal adviser on strategy, policy, contingency and theater security cooperation planning.

“The cyber mission is so dynamic, there is much to be done… Weggeman is the right leader, at the right time, to take 24th Air Force to the next level,” said Wilson.

Wilson will move on to his new assignment at the Office of the Secretary of Defense.

The change-of-command ceremony was held in June at Joint Base San Antonio – Lackland.

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DHS Unveils Federal Assistance Program to Empower Local Communities Against Violent Extremism
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DHS Unveils Federal Assistance Program to Empower Local Communities Against Violent Extremism


DHS - ExecutiveMosaicThe Department of Homeland Security will invest $10 million in a federal assistance program that seeks to provide local communities with resources to help counter violent extremism.

DHS said Wednesday the Countering Violent Extremism grant program for fiscal 2016 was developed to help empower state, local and tribal governments, nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions to lead initiatives to address terrorist threats.

“This new grant program is an important step forward in these efforts and reflects the department’s continued commitment to protect the homeland and uphold our values,” said DHS Secretary Jeh Johnson.

DHS’ office for community partnerships and the Federal Emergency Management Agency developed the program to support training, community engagements and other strategies against violent extremist narratives that are used to radicalize and recruit people.

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Air Force Selects Enlisted Airmen to Undergo Global Hawk Training Course
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Air Force Selects Enlisted Airmen to Undergo Global Hawk Training Course


Northrop GrummanThe U.S. Air Force has selected 10 enlisted airmen to participate in an October RQ-4 Global Hawk pilot training course as part of an initiative to develop future operating concepts within the service branch’s intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance enterprise.

The Air Force said Wednesday it expects the first batch of enlisted airmen to graduate from the course in 2017 and upon completion undergo the same training the branch’s remotely-piloted aircraft pilots tackle in terms of flight training, rules and responsibilities.

“Looking at new ways to operate within our RPA enterprise is critical given that ISR missions continue to be the number one most requested capability by our combatant commanders,” said Gen. David Goldfein, Air Force chief of staff.

tablet, soldier, c4isr“We’ll take this important step in a deliberate manner so that we can learn what works and what we’ll need to adjust as we integrate our highly capable enlisted force into flying this weapons system,” added Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James.

The service branch added new enlisted pilots will undergo undergraduate RPA training on how to fly DA-20 Falcon units, as well as RPA instrument qualification and Fundamentals courses and Global Hawk basic qualification programs.

RQ-4 Global Hawk is an unmanned aircraft built by Northrop Grumman to provide global all-weather, day or night intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support for joint combatant forces in worldwide peacetime, contingency and wartime operations.

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Daryl Witherspoon Assigned DCAA General Counsel
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Daryl Witherspoon Assigned DCAA General Counsel


Daryl Witherspoon
Daryl Witherspoon

Daryl Witherspoon, former deputy general counsel at the Defense Department Education Activity, has been named general counsel of the Defense Contract Audit Agency at Fort Belvoir.

Defense Secretary Ashton Carter announced the Senior Executive Service assignment in a notice published Wednesday.

Witherspoon previously held various roles at multiple organizations under DoD, including the National Guard Office of Chief Counsel, Army Litigation Division, U.S. Forces – Afghanistan, Fort McPherson, Army Central Command and Army Procurement Fraud Division.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in marketing from the North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University and a doctor of jurisprudence degree from the Valparaiso University School of Law.

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